Afternoon Soulshine

There are a few things that are almost certain to make me feel good, whatever my mood may have been earlier.  A good run and some good food, and then getting to be with my Forest makes it the perfect combo.  Times when I feel lethargic or grumpy, I'll go on a nice run,  I make it challenging but relaxing and for me it's a great way to get out any negative energy and more times than not, I feel much better physically after as well (and mentally).  One of the hard parts can be just getting out and actually doing it. I don't yet have any good tips or tricks for making myself, I just don't let any excuses get in the way and I go out and do it. After, I come back and always enjoy a smoothie or juice, and here are two of my favorite recipes lately.

Smoothie: (on left)
1 cup strawberries
1 frozen banana
1 orange, peeled
1 cup water (or coconut water)
Ice (~4 cubes)
Optional add-ins: 1 cup spinach (leave out for a pretty pink smoothie), 1 scoop Vanilla protein powder

Throw all ingredients into a blender,  blend until smooth.


Juice:
3-4 Kale leaves
1 sweet apple
2-3 stalks celery
Half a cucumber
Juice from half a lemon
Chunk of ginger 

Wash vegetables and then put through a juicer. Pour into a jar, add juice of half a lemon, gently mix and enjoy! 

Forest Update (Almost 8 months)

It's pretty apparent I'm not that into blogging, but I wanted to write an update on how Forest is.  I love reading up on how people's little ones are, and I thought there may be one or two of you who is wondering how Forest is:) And, maybe I'll get more into blogging, maybe.

Forest will be 8 months old on March 20th! I can't believe it, it has no doubt been the fastest 8 months of my life, and the happiest.  It's so hard to describe how I feel about him, but I'm sure all the mothers can relate.  Forest has been progressing pretty normally.  He started sitting up by himself around 5 months and is now crawling.  Just like since he was born, he seems to do everything his own way. I practiced hypno-birthing for months, and did yoga up until he was born, and was so sure his birth would be pretty easy and quick, but that was not so.  Even how Forest is getting his teeth is different. His first three popped up at the same time (about 5 and a half months), all on the bottom, and then he got number 4 on the bottom and no top.  Just a couple weeks ago, his first tooth came through on top. He looks SO cute when he smiles and you can see all these teeth on the bottom and then just one on top:) It looks like top tooth number 2 will be coming in soon though. Typically, babies get two on the bottom first and then two on top, which makes it funny. With crawling, Forest started the 'army' crawl pretty right after he turned 6 months, and then I thought, one day he'll crawl on his knees and then that will be it! Instead, he has been slow and steady. Crawling on his knees an inch or two, then back to his belly. Now he crawls on his knees about 50% of the time and the other 50% still on his belly.  It seems he just loves to do things his own way.  He has started scaling stuff too.  It's cool to see him pull himself up on the table, but I get so worried he's going to get hurt or something.  He is also quite the talker.  Nothing that makes sense, of course, but I feel like he always has to be making noise.  Sleeping...he is doing so much better. Only waking up once, or twice a night, which is great compared to the 4+ times he would wake up before. I hope to have him sleeping through the night by nine months.

Things Forest loves...pulling stuff out of the cabinets when we have them open, pulling my hair, standing up at the table and walking around it until he can slam on our computers, food, being out and about, and just being outside in general.  If he's getting fussy, I just take him outside and he's happy again.  Lately I've been taking him on runs and he loves it.  I can hear him talking in the stroller as I run which is adorable, and taking the stroller with me helps to increase my workout, and then you add that with the crazy Idaho wind and I am tired by the time we get home.  He also loves my green drinks I usually have after, which include Romaine, Kale, Celery, Cucumber, Parsley, Cilantro, Apple, Banana, Lemon and Cinnamon. Pretty much anything I am eating Forest wants a bite of:)

What is Abudant Life?

First post on the blog! So lets begin with how this blog came about.  This blog is supposed to be a record of my journey through food, love, motherhood, faith and life.  

Food. I have come to a point in my life where I once again want to change the way I eat. But to what, I am not quite sure.  I do know I don't want to define myself as anything, but eat what makes me happiest, healthiest, and is most align with my beliefs.  

Love. I want to have my marriage be all it can be, so as I learn and grow, I want to be able to share with others so they may also learn and grow. 

Motherhood. What an amazing blessing it has already been these past three months. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a mother in this world.  I want to be able to share with the world the great calling we have as women to be mothers, to be teachers on this earth and also teachers in eternity. No calling is greater in this life and the next.  The work we do with our children will no doubt be the most important thing to us, especially as the years go by and we reflect on our lives. 

Faith. My yearning to be close to my Heavenly Father and Savior never ceases.  I find myself too often wishing I had said a pray, or prayed more sincerely.  Too often wishing I read my scriptures in the morning or before bed.  Often wishing I felt the Spirit more closely and understood the things the Lord desired of me.  So when is the best time to change this? Now. And how? Just do it. It reminds me of a talk President Uchtdorf in General Conference, where he told us to STOP doing the things that held us back. In this case it is also that simple, to just DO the things that move us forward.

So where do I begin? What better place than in the scriptures.  And like the name of this blog, on the topic of abundant life. Michael actually liked the name abundant life for our farm, and so did I, so I used it for my blog:) Christ said in John 10:10, "...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." I think most of us are searching to have the most fulfilling life possible, and Christ said that thru Him we can.  Because of Christ it is possible for us to have an earth life experience, and also eternal life.  It makes sense that if we put our trust in Him, we can also have the most abundant life.  
To further this search I looked in the topical guide under abundant life, and decided I would read all the scriptures under it (which only turned out to be 17). I was planning on summing up each scripture here, but I think it will be sufficient to summarize the key aspects of obtaining abundant life. One of the first things we learn is to first seek the kingdom of God, and then everything else will be added unto us.  Well, how do we seek the kingdom of God? Keep the commandments of God. As I read through each scripture this seemed to be the overarching theme. As we seek to keep the Lord's commandments we are able to find that abundance of life, which really is happiness, fulfillment, and 'the good of the land.' The Lord knows us individually and as I pondered over what He meant by 'the good of the land', I began to think it really is an individual thing, for the Lord knows our unique needs and desires. Just a few other points I thought were important, is we must be willing in our hearts. Sure, we may want to keep the commandments but if our heart isn't in it, it won't really mean much. When we are willing, the Lord is able to work miracles and blessings in our lives. The last point I want to touch on, is keeping the sabbath day holy (D&C 59:16). I thought it was interesting that this scripture was under abundant life. It emphasized how important this commandment is, and that by keeping this one day a week sacred, it can help bring abundance to our lives. This is my short take on abundant life, and a start to the world of blogging.

Here is a picture of part of my abundant life...